Champions of entrepreneurship often talk about celebrating failure. Most people will experience it, they say, before reaching success, especially people starting new companies. In fact, failure's lessons are ingredients for later success.

Max Gaudin, founder of the Sidework restaurant training platform and Airpnp bathroom locator, said during "Fail Fest" at Launch Fest 2014 that he learned from the experience of taking a job that unexpectedly overwhelmed him and didn't work out that when you interview for a position, you also have to interview in return the employer or partner who is assessing you.Mark Waller, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

The flop: Gaudin has a background and training in the hospitality industry. He recounted entering a partnership to run a bed and breakfast only to discover most of the responsibilities, including cooking breakfast for guests, would be left to him when other workers failed to show up. During a particularly harrowing morning attempting to cook grits for a crowd of guests, he gave up and walked away.

The lesson: When interviewing with partners or potential employers for new jobs, remember that you are interviewing and assessing them, too.

Brent McCrossen, founder of the Audiosocket digital music company, said during "Fail Fest" at Launch Fest 2014 that one of his biggest mistakes was outsourcing a key function of his company. Ã¢ÂÂIf something is core to your universe,Ã¢ÂÂ he said, Ã¢ÂÂif it is the center of what you do, donÃ¢ÂÂt outsource that. You own that.Ã¢ÂÂ Mark Waller, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

The flop: McCrossen's initial interest was with music and finding new channels for artists to make money. So he hired an outside firm to develop the technology portion of his business.

Business was brisk, and Audiosocket was talking to Disney about providing music services.

"The day that Disney called," he said, "we had 3,000 songs ingested in the platform, and that was the day that broke." He called it catastrophic failure.

The lesson: He shouldn't have regarded technology as secondary to his operation.

"If something is core to your universe," he said, "if it is the center of what you do, don't outsource that. You own that." He hired an in-house technology chief, fixed the system and later was still able to work with Disney.

Jen Medbery, founder of the Kickboard education data tracking service, said at "Fail Fest" during Launch Fest that a much-interrupted company treat she held at a school reminded her to seek input from others. âI never once thought to ask my colleagues whether they thought this was a good idea,â Medbery said.Mark Waller, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

The flop: Medbery decided it would be fitting to hold her company's annual retreat in a school, immersing the team in the setting where the customers work. They gathered in a school library, a hub of the campus.

"We settled down to do the first workshop in the morning, and that's when construction begins," Medbery said. A crew started noisily working on the elevators.

The Kickboard group tolerated that, only to be interrupted by groups of children walking through their presentations as they moved between classes.

When it came time for her to give her state-of-the-company speech, she realized she couldn't discuss sensitive financial and strategic information because groups of middle school students were in the library watching.

The lesson: "I never once thought to ask my colleagues whether they thought this was a good idea," Medbery said. If she had done so, she said, she might have anticipated the pitfalls of holding the retreat in a school.

Robert Stephens, founder of the Geek Squad technical support service, said a run-in with the California Highway Patrol over his company's distinctive Volkswagen Beetles that employees use to make house calls taught him to stick with his principles even if it's a losing proposition in an individual fight. Ã¢ÂÂThese are decisions that you make that lay groundwork for years,Ã¢ÂÂ of establishing what a company stands for, he said. Mark Waller, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

The flop: Lawyers alerted Stephens that the company's distinctive Volkswagen Beetles that workers use to drive to jobs ran afoul of the California Highway Patrol. The law enforcement agency said the black-and-white cars looked too much like police cars, violating state law.

"This is a no-brainer David and Goliath story," Stephens said. He immediately imagined a public relations campaign poking fun at then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "The new jock governor of California is picking on the geeks. It's happening again."

He wanted to hire Erik Estrada, co-star of the 1970s and 1980s television show CHiPS, about the California Highway Patrol, for a public service announcement.

But the legal department at Best Buy, which had bought Geek Squad and incorporated it in its retail stores, rejected the strategy. Stephens' regret, he said, is that he didn't push harder and go forward with the fight against California anyway, even if it was doomed to fail.

The lesson: "These are decisions that you make that lay groundwork for years," of establishing what a company stands for, he said.